Supermarket chain apologises for telling staff they must only speak English

A Dublin supermarket chain has apologised for issuing a communication policy that told staff they must speak English at all times, including when on their breaks.

A copy of Fresh’s original communications policy was widely shared online after it stated that “when working employees are requested to use the English language at all times” and warned those who are heard speaking a language other than English may be subject to disciplinary action.

“If you have difficulty with the English language and need to ask for a translation that is ok, but we would ask that this be done as little as possible. We would also ask that this policy be applied during rest breaks,” the original missive said, adding the use of other languages can make colleagues and customers “uncomfortable”.

The policy drew online criticism, including a number of disapproving comments on Fresh’s Facebook page.

“If a Polish person, for example, came into Fresh and knew the staff member serving them was Polish, should they not be at liberty to speak Polish? Forcing staff to speak English alone — including at breaks — is depressing,” one comment read.

“I’m sure when they are serving an English-speaking customer they speak English and surely if they served a Polish or other speaker of their native language the customer would be happy to be served in their own language,” another said.

Others asked if the policy also forbade staff from speaking Irish.

Noel Smith, founder, Fresh Opportunities Ltd, yesterday issued a statement apologising for any offence caused by the policy.

“As you may have seen from social media recently, we issued a communication policy to our staff members, to encourage them to speak English when in the workplace. This was to help avoid any misunderstandings between customers, staff and suppliers on the shop floor. We’ve been consulting with our staff over the last 24 hours and as our earlier communication policy caused some confusion, we decided to take the step of updating this policy. This updated communication policy has now been issued to all our staff members, to help create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all our team.

“We are encouraging our staff to speak English or Irish in the workplace and this doesn’t apply to rest periods. We will also provide information around language classes to any team member, who feel they could benefit from improving their language skills.”